Peer grouping and performance measurement to improve rural and urban transit in Texas Page: I

                                
Technical Report Documentation Page
1. Report No.                    2. Government Accession No.      3. Recipient's Catalog No.
FHWA/TX-11/0-6205-1
4. Title and Subtitle                                              5. Report Date
PEER GROUPING AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT TO                       September 2010
IMPROVE RURAL AND URBAN TRANSIT IN TEXAS                           Published: May 2011
6. Performing Organization Code
7. Author(s)                                                      8. Performing Organization Report No.
Jeffrey Arndt, Suzie Edrington, Matthew Sandidge, Luca Quadrifoglio,  Report 0-6205-1
and Judy Perkins
9. Performing Organization Name and Address                       10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
Texas Transportation Institute
The Texas A&M University System                                    11. Contract or Grant No.
College Station, Texas 77843-3135                                  Project 0-6205
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View, Texas 77446
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address                            13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Texas Department of Transportation                                 Technical Report:
Research and Technology Implementation Office                      September 2008-August 2010
P.O. Box 5080                                                      14. Sponsoring Agency Code
Austin, Texas 78763-5080
15. Supplementary Notes
Project performed in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway
Administration.
Project Title: Benchmarking and Improving Texas Rural Public Transportation Systems
URL: http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6205-1.pdf
16. Abstract
Rural and small urban transit systems in Texas will become even more important with predicted changes in
population trends. Rural demographic trends indicate growth in the number of persons age 65 and over
coupled with a decrease in population density. Small urban area trends indicate substantial population growth
and broadened geographic boundaries, yet resources to provide rural and small urban transit are limited.
Therefore, transit managers find it is increasingly important to maximize service efficiency and
effectiveness. The purpose of this research was to identify peer groups, performance benchmarks, and
strategies used by successful transit providers to achieve high performance. The research project identifies
peer groups based on the transit environment within which each agency operates, so that agencies can be
compared to other operators who face similar environments. Peer group effectiveness and efficiency
performance are examined within and between rural and urban peer groups, and high performers are
identified for case studies. Through the case studies, key attributes are identified for achieving high
operating efficiency and/or effectiveness. Performance strategies are categorized to provide transit providers
with transferrable information to improve performance and increase the return on transit investment.
17. Key Words                                     18. Distribution Statement
Benchmarking, Peer Analysis, Public               No restrictions. This document is available to the
Transportation, Performance Measurement           public through NTIS:
National Technical Information Service
Alexandria, Virginia 22161

http://www.ntis.gov
19. Security Classif.(of this report)          20. Security Classif.(of this page)            21. No. of Pages        22. Price
Unclassified                                   Unclassified                                           146
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